It is now common place to have unattended payment terminals where a customer provides payment in the form of banknotes to a banknote validator system that confirms the validity of the banknotes as part of the payment process. Typically, the banknote validators are associated with vending equipment, gaming machines or other payment terminals.
The actual banknote validator system can be quite sophisticated and include a banknote accumulator which allows the recycling of banknotes as necessary, to provide change for a particular transaction. In other applications, the system merely includes a banknote validator and an associated banknote cassette for storing and stacking of received banknotes. The banknote cassette is removable from the system by an operator. Typically, a banknote cassette is removed and a new empty banknote cassette is inserted. The banknote cassettes are typically locked and the contents thereof are not accessible without additional security provisions being met.
Banknote cassettes have traditionally been made of a number of different materials and designs. The cassettes are typically of a rectangular configuration and initially were metal boxes with an access door provided in the bottom thereof. One side of the banknote cassette includes an interior stacker mechanism and the opposite side of the banknote cassette includes a large storage area for receiving stacked banknotes. A banknote slot and guide arrangement is provided adjacent the stacker mechanism that receives banknotes from the validator. The stacker mechanism forces a received banknote through the guide arrangement and into a storage area provided to one side of the guide arrangement where the banknotes are maintained in a stack. A pressure plate was provided in the storage arrangement for engaging the first banknote to be added to the storage arrangement and a spring bias arrangement urges the pressure plate against the stack of banknotes.
Power for moving of the stacker arrangement from an initial compressed state to one side of the guide arrangement to an extended state pushing the banknote through the guide arrangement and into the storage area is provided by a transfer mechanism or drive member exposed to the exterior of the banknote cassette. Many of these banknote cassettes are made of a metal construction that allows the walls of the banknote cassette to be relatively thin while providing excellent security. As can be appreciated, the structural integrity of the banknote cassette is important as service personnel will be removing these cassettes and transporting them to a distant secure environment. The possibility of tampering with the banknote cassette remains high and thus, security is critical.
In some environments such as the gaming environment, the possibility of physically damaging of the banknote cassette is less, however, the cassette must provide a system where it is not possible to withdraw the banknotes without authorized opening of the access door. Some banknote cassettes also include a removable memory device to record the number and amount of the banknotes stored in the cassette.
There are applications for banknote cassettes where security is somewhat less important. In this case it has been known to produce banknote cassettes with a plastic housing while the cassette remains lockable. More recently, it has been proposed to produce a banknote cassette where the actual box of the cassette is a single molded plastic component with a hinged lockable access door. Allegedly, plastic cassettes are more durable and resistant to damage caused by dropping of the cassette.
Banknote cassettes are not necessarily of the same capacity. Basically, the banknote cassette is designed to store a certain number of banknotes before service is required. A small capacity banknote cassette may store 100 banknotes whereas other applications require storage of several hundred banknotes. Basically, the depth of the banknote cassette changes with the capacity thereof.
Plastic molded cassettes have certain advantages with respect to resiliency and are less prone to damage if the cassette is dropped. Metal cassettes are typically more secure but somewhat more prone to damage if dropped.
It would be desirable to provide a banknote cassette design which is economical to manufacture and easily varied to accommodate a particular capacity.